After claiming her first Major victory in her home country of France, Celine Boutier shows no signs of slowing down, with the 29-year-old firing a final round 70 to pick up the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open and back-to-back titles.
For the majority of the day, it looked like Boutier was going to cruise t victory, but that was until Hyo Joo Kim, Ruoning Yin and A Lim Kim all carded excellent rounds in the mid 60s to move within one stroke. However, Boutier is in the form of her life and, with a birdie putt dropping at the 17th, it gave her enough breathing room to claim a two shot win.
As the final round got underway, it was Boutier who led the pack following an excellent six-under third round, with the Frenchwoman looking to build on her Amundi Evian Championship victory last week.
Starting three shots clear, Patty Tavatanakit did close the gap to Boutier to one shot after birdies at the first and fifth. The 23-year-old did falter over the back nine though, which left it up to others to chase down Boutier, one of which was Maja Stark, who made a hole-in-one at the par 3 sixth to close to two with 12 to go.
However, Boutier is arguably the in form player in the world right now and, with birdies at the sixth and ninth, she found her advantage moving back to three with the back nine left to go.
Boutier carded four birdies and two bogeys to claim a fifth LPGA Tour title
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It seemed then that nobody was going to get close to the 29-year-old. That was until A Lim Kim went on an incredible run of six birdies in seven holes to pull within two. Eventually, she would finish at -11, with her clubhouse target being overtaken by Hyo Joo Kim and Ruoning Yin, who produced 65 and 66, respectively, to move into a share of second place at -12.
Boutier’s lead was now just one, the smallest margin since midway through the front nine. The Major winner, though, showed her experience and, when a lengthy birdie putt dropped on the 17th, it gave her enough breathing room to safely par the 18th for a two-under final round and two shot victory.
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